This invention relates generally to electrical connectors for connecting a first printed circuit board, commonly known as the daughter board, to a second printed circuit board, commonly known as a mother board, and more specifically the invention relates to a simplified, all metal board-to-board connector arrangement which requires no plastic housing and which is easily installed by hand with the aid of a carrier strip which is inherently provided in the manufacture of the connector.
There are many different types of connectors in use today which are constructed to connect a first circuit board to a second circuit board. Depending upon various parameters, such as the particular type circuit boards involved, the particular environment in which the circuit boards must function, and upon individual specifications of the customer, such board-to-board connectors have widely varying characteristics and design features. For example, some board-to-board connectors are comprised of two separate plastic housings, one of which has a first set of contacts which fit into a first board and the other of which has a second set of contacts which fit into a second board. The two housings each have second sets of contacts which mate together so that the two boards are in fact connected together through the two piece connector.
Other board-to-board connectors employ a single plastic housing into which a row of connectors are embedded during the molding of the housing. Such contacts within the housing usually have a male portion and a female portion, with the male portion constructed to fit into one circuit board and the female portion constructed to recieve the edge of a second circuit board.
In other type board-to-board connectors the connectors are first secured within one of the boards and then a plastic housing is snapped over the connectors in order to provide protection and support for the connectors and also to form a slot into which the edge of a second circuit board can be inserted to make contact with the contacts secured within the first board.
There are many applications for board-to-board connectors in which no plastic housing whatever is needed, and in which the installation of the connectors can be made easily and inexpensively without the aid of expensive application tooling, and yet which have sufficient mechanical strength to effectively hold a mother and a daughter board together.